Montgomery Child Custody Lawyers Protect Your Parental Rights

Experienced representation for your most important family law issue

No issue of family law causes more stress and creates more heartache, expense, and conflict than child custody. At the Law Office of Judy H. Barganier and Winston W. Edwards, P.C., our attorneys understand that custody battles, arrangements and awards have long-term effects on children and parents alike. Because custody arrangements are vital to your children’s well-being, your attorney must have comprehensive understanding of the relevant law and experience in vigorously contested cases. Our attorneys draw on more than 45 years of combined experience to evaluate your case, assemble the evidence, and develop a strategy designed to achieve the best possible outcome for you and your children.

Common custody arrangements in Alabama

Child custody in Alabama is divided two ways:

• Legal custody — This is the legal authority to make decisions affecting health, education, welfare, religious training, and other essential elements of the child’s upbringing.
• Physical custody — This is the right to have the child live in your residence, along with the duty to provide for physical needs of food and shelter.

Each of these forms of custody can be shared or held by only one parent, leading to various combinations:

• Sole legal and physical custody — Where one parent is incapable of making mature decisions and performing as a primary caretaker, the other parent exercises all rights of custody. The noncustodial parent still might be permitted visitation.
• Joint legal and physical custody — The arrangement most favored by Alabama courts allows each parent to make a part-time home for the child and participate in major decisions.
• Sole legal and joint physical custody — In cases where a child has special needs and one parent has specialized knowledge of the issues, that parent may be the sole decision-maker for matters of health and welfare, but the child could reside alternately with each parent.
• Joint legal and sole physical custody — In cases where both parents are mature and engaged in their children’s lives, but one parent is not available to act as a primary caretaker, this arrangement may be appropriate. The noncustodial parent would have visitation.

A custody determination depends on many factors, such as the parent’s fitness, availability and skill as a caretaker, career demands, and willingness to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent. Because every family is different, we try to negotiate unique parenting plans for our clients, rather than leave the issue up to a judge to decide.

Setting expectations in your child custody dispute

Parents can resolve child custody issues through negotiation or mediation or at trial. Before deciding how you want to proceed, it’s important to check your emotions, look at the issue through your children’s eyes, and then examine your case as the court might perceive it. First, it’s helpful to acknowledge that unless there are aberrant circumstances, children love both their parents. Second, courts are guided by one principle: the best interest of the child. Once you truly understand these facts, it becomes easier to take a realistic approach to your custody dispute. If your differences with your spouse are simply a matter of parenting style, most courts will likely favor a joint custody arrangement. However, if you have well-founded concerns about your spouse harming your child, this information needs to come out and the children must be protected.

We are adept at managing child custody litigation during divorce and managing related issues such as:

• Parental relocation
• Modification of child custody orders
• Allegations of parental alienation and interference with visitation
• Paternity
• Grandparent visitation rights

When you retain our services, you get a law firm that will ease your mind by keeping in close touch with you as we work passionately towards a favorable outcome.

Contact an experienced and dedicated child custody lawyer in Montgomery

When your relationship with your children is at stake, you can trust the Law Office of Judy H. Barganier and Winston W. Edwards, P.C. to provide dedicated representation. To schedule a consultation, call us at 334-530-5701 or contact our Montgomery office online. We are located at 8314 Crossland Loop, just off Vaughn Road, half a mile east of Taylor Road.